Improvement in apparatus for puddling and melting iron



H. A. V. POST.

I Improvement in Apparatus for Puddling and Melting lro iw% M Madzlemia'ozz Z6 PATENT Orrron;

HENRY A. V. POST, OF'NEW YORK, N. Y.

JMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR VPUDDLING AND MELTING IRON.

Specification forming part-of Letters Patent No. 130,241, dated August6, 1872.

Be it known that I, HENRY A. V. Pos'r, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus forPuddling and Melting Iron;

and I declare the following to be a full and accurate descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making part ofthis my description and specification.

The object of my invention is to so improve the rotary puddling-machinethat all the difficulties now attending its use may be practicallyovercome and new uses added to it.

There are at present two forms of rotary puddling-machines known, in oneof which a cylindrical hollow closed vessel is rotated on a horizontalaxis, and in the other an open basin revolves on a vertical axis. In thecylindrical or spherical machine the heat is admitted through one of theaxes of rotation, and passes out either through the opposite axis orreturns through the same by which it was admitted, and which isdividedfor the purpose into two passages; but, as an incident to the fact thatthe machine revolves horizontally, it is necessary to open the cylinderor sphere to take out the puddle-ball through the trunnion, and in doingthis the heat must be shut off and complicated mechanism be used toeffect the purpose. In the machine in which the basin revolves on avertical axis the melting metal will be merely carried round in thebasin without being stirred or worked by the act of r0 tation and it isnecessary to use tools for puddling the iron, which may be fixed so asto arrest the movement of the mass, and so act upon it or be operated byworkmen in the usual way; but in such a machine the puddleball can beremoved, without disarranging the apparatus, simply by opening thefurnace-door, as in the case of the ordinary furnace.

In my improved machine I obtain the advan-.

tages of both systems without encountering the disadvantage of either,and the principle upon which that result is effected is in revolving thebasin upon an axis so much inclined from a perpendicular that meltedmetal will run down to the lower side of the basin as it revolves, andyet so far inclined from a horizontal that the uncovered or open basinwill not spill out the charge. Under these circumstances the mass may beexamined and the puddle-ball removed through a door similar to that usedfor these purposes in the ordinary puddling-fiirnace, without shuttingoft'the heat or disarranging the apparatus by which the machine isoperated.

In the accompanying drawing my machine is exhibited under threeviews,.which explain themselves. 0 is the fire-door; D is the furnace; Eis the bridge-wall; J and K are the uptake, all of which are similar tothe corresponding parts in the ordinary puddling-fur.

nace. Between the bridge-wall and the uptake is a chamber sufficientlylarge to contain the rotating puddling-machine, which should be of thesize desired to contain a puddle-ball of the required dimensions in thelower part of it, as shown in the drawing. diameter would be agood-sized machine. In the chamber the revolving puddling-machine A isset, and the bridge-wall may be built so as to overlap the edge of thebasin, which is of cast-iron, and so protect it from the action of theflames from the furnace. The basin is set on the axis P, which is guidedin a suitable manner to secure stability. The beam L, of iron, with aproper bearing on it, is a good arrangement; but there are manyways ofsupporting this shaft or basin, which will suggest themselves to anymechanic, equally good. N is a worm-wheel, driven by the tan gent-screwO, which may be driven by the cog-wheel R, connected to any motordesired in the usual way. The basin is to be lined with any refractorysubstance which is used for puddling-furnaces. The door H opens directlyupon the basin, and the melting iron, which is represented by B, isaccessible just as it is in the ordinary puddling-furnace. The basinshould revolve close to the brick-work all round it, so as to shut offthe influx of air.

The mode of operation is very obvious from The basin,

the examination of the drawing. charged with metal, is set in rotationwhen fusion commences, and, as in the other form of "rotatingpuddling-machines on horizontal axes, the mass will flow down to thelower side of the basin and act as it does in them. The basin may be setwith its axis at an angle about thirty degrees from the perpendicular;but the inclination may be increased, making the basin more concave toretain the puddleball, and the inclination of the axis may be madeadjustable during action; and the basin Five feet in may be set so as toreceive the flames at a different angle from the furnace, which, in thatcase, would be brought round more in the front of the basin.

I do not confine myself to any arrangement of the fire-chamber and flue,which may be made to suit the constructor, as this machine is suitablefor steel-making with regenerating- .furnaces; nor do I limit myself toany particular angle of inclination of the axis of the basin so long asit is inclined far enough from the perpendicular to cause fluid metal toflow to the lower side as the basin revolves, and far enough from thehorizontal to permitithe basin to be uncovered without spilling out thedescribed.

11. A. V. POST. Witnesses:

JAMES SIMsoN, Guns. 1, CHOATE.

